DRAGONS chief Bernard Jackman was a happy head coach following his side’s 31-17 defeat of Ealing Trailfinders in London on Saturday, but he knows there is still plenty of work to do before the Guinness PRO14 opener against Benetton.

Jackman, whose team endured a torrid campaign last time out with only two league wins, took heart from the Men of Gwent’s showing in their opening pre-season friendly at the English Championship outfit.

He was particularly pleased to see his rejuvenated squad’s strength in depth - Jackman has brought in 14 new players - paying off, with a host of internationals not involved on the weekend to add to the mix as well.

The Dragons host Northampton on Friday and then go to Gloucester the following Thursday before the PRO14 gets under way on September 1.

Assessing the Ealing display, Jackman said: “We’re happy enough. Obviously there were some errors but there were a few young players getting game time that they probably haven’t got a lot of experience of.

“Some of them showed nerves but everybody showed really good intent, so we know we’ve got a lot of work to do but we’re happy, it was good.

“Our collision will get better but I thought some of our kicking and build-up play was very good.

“Some individuals showed up well and we had no injuries, which was brilliant.

“It was a great opportunity to create that cohesion that’s going to be so important for us.

“When you bring 14 new players in, getting them to gel quickly, understand each other and get some combinations is the hard part.

“We’ve got to try and make sure we do that to the best of our ability over the next three weeks to be ready for Treviso.”

He added: “I liked Brandon Nansen off the bench, he scored a try on his debut, put in some big hits, and he’s got a different profile to what we’ve had.

“I thought Rhodri Williams was excellent, Josh Lewis was good, Jack Dixon missed most of last season with injury and he was captain today, he’s going to be a huge player for us.

“Ryan Bevington was good and Matthew Screech was excellent, he ran the lineout really well, and again he’s a player who didn’t play for six months.

“And Nic Cudd got injured in pre-season last year so he missed the whole season, so just to see him back out there getting 50 minutes under his belt was really pleasing.”

Jackman had some good news relating to those who didn’t feature against the Trailfinders.

“We’re hoping Leon Brown comes back in for Northampton and there’s a couple of others who are fit to play,” he continued.

“The under-23s have a friendly against RGC on Saturday so that gives us a chance to potentially drop some of this group there to get game time.

“Effectively, I’ve got a chance to play 46 players next week.

“Leon’s very close, he will be there or thereabouts, we’ll see how he is on Monday.

“Tavis Knoyle isn’t far away, Aaron Wainwright will play next week, Elliot Dee, Cory Hill and Hallam Amos will play the week after, and then Ross Moriarty in round two.

“Ollie Griffiths isn’t a million miles away either which is pleasing, so we’ve got some bodies coming back which is great.”